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Breastfeeding and Surgery

My son is 15 months old and bf at night to sleep. He is also still co-sleeping with me and my hubby which we both enjiy. The question is that I need to have a surgical procedure which requires general anethesia and a 2-3 night hospital stay. I am not sure how my son will handle this. Should I start weaning even thought I don't want too? Should I move him into his bed? Does anyone know if I could skip a night or two until the anethsia is out of my system? I am going back to my doctor this week so I will ask him the medical side of things, but I am just wondering if anyone else has had to face this decision and what they made of it? Thanks
Susan

Re: Breastfeeding and Surgery

You certainly don't have to wean! When my son was around 15 months, I started taking occasional trips away from him -- just overnight the first time, but later that year I did a couple of 2-3 night separations. I worried at first that DH wouldn't be able to get DS to sleep, and that they'd be walking the floors screaming all night -- didn't happen. They did fine. A sippy cup with water in the middle of the night took the place of nursing back to sleep. I also worried every trip that DS would wean while I was gone. It never happened -- he always picked right up where we left off without missing a beat.

The one thing you need to figure out is how you're going to move milk while you're away from your son. Your plans for regular pumping should be discussed with your doctor and written into his medical instructions. You should probably pump as often as your son nurses -- and you should figure out how to schedule that around the anasthesia, and make sure your post-op nurses know that you may be needing help with pumping if you're still groggy. You don't want to wake up with clogged ducts or a blossoming case of mastitis.